


Gen-flavoured short story collection

by RabbitPie



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Post-Undertale Neutral Route - King Mettaton Ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-10-13 23:09:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10523874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RabbitPie/pseuds/RabbitPie
Summary: I need a place to dump gen-flavoured short stories. These stories are likely to be explorations of canon or near-canon.Latest chapter:Asgore Dremurr: The Father of the Absolute God of Hyperdeath: Asgore and the second battle with the human. (fic and art)





	1. Pap, Flowey, Sans and a couple of Resets

Papyrus’ words would shine with every ounce of earnestness contained within him when he tells Flowey he can be good.

Then, he wakes up with the realisation that he still needs to help flowey because whatever it was he did last time – if only could remember what! – didn’t work. But he has another chance! He skips out of bed and changes into his battle body (whatever rumours Sans spreads, he DOES take it off. If he slept in it it would get wrinkly!).

Sans shortcuts into the kitchen five minutes before his shift starts and Papyrus flinches in surprise. It’s a shock! Sans might actually get out there on time, and Papyrus can’t recall that happening before.

But there’s something far too considering in Sans’ eyes, which suggests this morning’s events might be ones Papyrus knows only too well. His brother knows… something. “Something bothering you?” he says.

Papyrus doesn’t want to give his brother whatever ammunition he’s looking for. Sure Sans is smiling, but there’s a look in his eye that suggests he’s suddenly reading Papyrus like a particularly dense textbook and is soaking in every word with ease.

“I’m fine.”

“Hey Pap… You know the work I do with the lab right? We think… this is going to sound crazy but we think that time is hopping around.”

Papyrus grins really hard and really fake.

Sans’ expression morphs into a sad sort of acknowledgement. “Please tell me about them.”

Papyrus leaves. His body passes right through the wood of the door until his boots up to their ankles in snow before he even thinks about leaving. The world does that sometimes. It shifts about him in strange ways.

Flowey erupts out of the ground with a spray of snow. Somehow, he’d known.

“What’s up now, Papyrus?”

“Could you reload?”

Sans needed to forget. He’d keep his secrets better this time.


	2. The Deposition ch1, a Flick!Mega!Pizza!xMechafELitE xover by Alphys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two misfits stand before the endlessly powerful Royal Queen robot suit. They have the mysteries of the galaxy to uncover... and only their lives to lose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALPHYS WOULD TOTALLY WRITE STUFF LIKE THIS.
> 
> I'm not actually planning on continuing this.

The Master Of Ceremonies beamed at the camera, yelling into his microphone to media crew. Behind him, Kitchen Stadium was filled to the brim with spectators and people were still lining up outside. In the centre of the stadium stood the most enormous robot suit in the galaxy.

Royal Queen.

Decorated in white and purple, the colours of the hidden queen whom no-one had seen since the planet’s heir had vanished and the planet had fallen into misery, it was the center of much speculation. It was said that Royal Queen would reveal their identity if they were ever beaten.

“WELCOME TO KITCHEN STADIUM!” The Master of Ceremonies turned to the crowd. “IT’S KILL OR BE KILLED OUT THERE! WILL OUR LATEST CHALLENGERS LIVE TO SEE THE NEXT ROTATION OF THE SUN?”

The crowd cheered and booed.

“LET’S MEET OUR–”

As the two challengers entered the arena, the Master of Ceremonies’ voice faltered. He looked to the two monsters, clad in their small suits, to the staff that was milling near him. The crowd’s enthusiasm dipped into confused murmurs.

“Is this legal? Challengers are in teams of at least five!”

None of the staff seemed to know, and someone was dispatched to speak to the event managers.

“NGGAAAHHHH YOU COWARDS! WE’LL SMASH HER FLAT LIKE A PANCAKE WITH OUR PIZZA TECHNIQUES!” Shouted Undyne.

Alphys readied her pizza gun, and nodded, grunting. She could do anything with Undyne at her side. “We will!”

Whatever the manager had to say didn’t matter any more, because Royal Queen began to move.


	3. King Mettaton (prompted fic)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From a prompt from ReaderRose: King Mettaton from the POV of someone who doesn't like the show.
> 
> I... took the idea and twisted it a bit. I think you'll all enjoy though.

Of all the flat, two-dimensional characters The Underground had to offer, Mettaton was the flattest of the lot. He was as flat as his own face, and no, his other form wasn’t any better, although it did have the amusing property of smoking if Mettaton wore it too long. Mettaton lampshaded his depthless personality every second of the day. His caring was so fake it made Toriel and Asgore look like loving parents.

They were all flat, boring, lifeless. A person was the product of their history, after all, and for all that Flowey could give them all new (oh so exciting!) futures, he was stuck when it came to their pasts.

There were weeks he’d spent in Alphys’s labs, laughing and making up stories, but with each load, her stories became more familiar, until it became blindingly obvious that every story she could make up could be watched on that wall of human ‘history’ films behind her.

She was as flat as that stupid anime looked.

But. There was one character who could consistently break through the fourth wall. Papyrus. With just a few words, "Hey, remember that time Undyne was Empress of the Underground?", Papyrus would squint, shake his head, and look at Flowey with new eyes.

"Flowey?" He'd say.

(Flowey, not Flowery, Flowey.)

\- - - - PAPYRUS

"Aww geez friend, I thought you'd forgotten me!" Flowey beamed, and slipped between Papyrus' arms as he tried to hug his friend. Papyrus went toppling over.

"That's because you didn't remind me!" Papyrus answered into a face full of dirt and grass. He got up onto his elbows. "You should have reminded me earlier!"

"Aw Papyrus! I'm sorry, I guess I forgot!"

Papyrus let it slide, he was happy to see his friend again, although it was a bit tricky trying to straighten out all the new memories in his head. He did remember Undyne as Empress of the Underground, although he wasn't quite sure how she had become Empress and a small logical part of his brain that he really didn't want to talk to was asking how...

He shook his head and that part decided to shush.

"Well then Flowey, what have you been doing today?" he asked.

Flowey giggled. "Oh, well I was just vising the Nice Cream Guy. Did you know that he's making pink bisicles now? only they're called Mettcicles, and they're in the shape of Mettaton's fingers."

Well, that sounded a little bit horrible. Flowey was watching him very carefully. "How do you heat them without breaking King Mettaton's fingers?"

"I guess you can't. Wanna break the king's fingers with me?" Flowey asked, and held out a Mettcicle.

The thing was.

The thing was that there was a corner of Papyrus' mind that hadn't existed until Flowey asked that exact question that did want to break Mettaton's fingers. The real Mettaton, not the Mettcicle that Flowey was holding in his leaves.

"I think I'll pass," Papyrus stuttered out, horrified and shaking his head, hoping that that part would fall out like the part that had been wondering exactly how Asgore had di--

"On second thought can I please have that?" Papyrus asked, and when Flowey handed over the entire Mettcicle he ate it so fast that it gave him a brain freeze.

There. That was better. No intrusive thoughts. He pressed his hands to his head as the pain pressed into his skull. It. Was. Ouch.

"Careful there, friend," Flowey chided. "What about yourself?"

"Well I've been speaking with Alphys today. The King has her inventing some really cool stuff! She does seem a little bit stressed though. I hope she's not overworking herself. Maybe I should get her a Mettcicle..."

He looked down at the two Mettcicle sticks, stained slightly pink by the icey treat he'd scoffed. "Oh no, I'm sorry! Flowey!"

He scrambled to his feet and was about to run off to find the Nice Cream Guy when Flowey caught him around the ankle and almost made him plant face-first into the concrete path that bordered the small palace courtyard that they hand been chatting in. 

"Don't worry about that! I don't mind. I'm just... I'm glad to see you again."

The words came out in a squeak, and Flowey squeaked louder as Papyrus scooped his stem into a hug. He muttered and grumbled against Papyrus' clothes but he didn't seem to be particularly honest about it.

Papyrus had given him room to escape, after all.

\- - - - -- - - - - - PAP

He and Flowey said their goodbyes, and Papyrus' soul felt lighter. It was nice to have his friend back. He hadn't even known he was missing! And Flowey was trying so hard to be good this time. He hadn't even got mad when Papyrus had eaten all the Mettcicle!

His phone bleeped with an Undernet alert, and Papyrus jumped. He fished his phone out of his pocket and flipped the screen up with a fancy flick of his thumb. It was Alphys! But her icon was looking rather upset.

"I don't mean to bother you--" she was awfully worried about that, far more so that she needed to be! "But... I'm worried about Undyne."

"YOU DON'T NEED TO BE WORRIED ABOUT UNDYNE!" Papyrus ducked into one of the palace alcoves, out of the way of the busy (and sparkly) monsters going to and fro in their royal uniforms.

He almost said it was Undyne's job to worry about everyone, since she was the head of the royal guard, but then he remembered that she... wasn't, anymore.

King Mettaton said they didn't need a royal guard now that he was King, because everyone would just watch him and be happy. That really made Papyrus rather upset. It had been his dream to be in the royal guard.

He tried not to be upset with Mettaton about it, he was the King after all, and King Asgore had done all sorts of things in the past -- another past -- like unmandate deadly spikes and precarious bridges, and put in handrails!

Unmandating of the royal guard though… it really pissed him off!

He jumped as he realised that Alphys hadn’t responded. He looked down to check he hadn’t accidentally turned it off. It was still on. Alphys hadn’t even started typing.

“ALPHYS?” he texted.

Alphys started typing and the phone bleeped as he received the message. “I’ve been trying to contact her for days. I can’t find her.”

“Have you tried using a bone?”

“A bone? Like a gift? Papyrus-- I don’t think--”

“DON’T WORRY ALPHYS I AM A MASTER FISHERMAN! I SHALL CATCH HER IN NO TIME!”

He just needed the right bait...

Papyrus strode home, pushing the door open so hard it slammed against the wall and waking Sans from his sprawl on the couch. His brother grunted and pushed himself to his feet, stumbling into Papyrus’ way and rubbing at the ever-present bags under his sockets.

“Bro? Watcha doing?”

Papyrus very nearly crashed into him. He stopped himself from doing that – and also managed to stop himself from screetching in frustration. His whole body was writhing with nervous energy but… maybe he did need to slow down a bit.

He took in a deep breath and let it out. 

“I’m going to find a present for Undyne. Do you think she’d prefer a green ribbon or a red one?”

Sans stopped rubbing at his eyes. “Uh, bro? Don’t you remember?”

“Remember what?”

“She’s on vacation,” Sans said, bewildered. “Maybe you should have a nap if you’re forgetting things like that.”

Papyrus paused in riffling through his box of ribbons. “R-REALLY?”

Sans grinned tiredly. “Yeah.”

“Oh. Yes. Perhaps I should have a nap...”

After all, if he was hallucinating Alphys calling him maybe he did need one.

Papyrus was staring at his new sparkly racecar bed when he blinked, and realised that Undyne didn’t have a job, and you needed a job to be on vacation!

“SANS!” he yelled.

He ran downstairs, but his brother was nowhere to be found. He snatched red ribbon from the box and wrapped it around one of his bone attacks. The last few had gone missing – Papyrus suspected that annoying dog was stealing them from Undyne’s drawer – and she didn’t have many red ones left.

Present in hand, he set out for waterfall.

“Is Undyne on vacation?” he texted Alphys.

“No?” Alphys answered. “She doesn’t have a job.”

Sans was the sort of person who could take a vacation without even having a job. Maybe he’d thought Undyne was the same. She’d been a brilliant Empress! Very scary!

Even when she was Empress, he didn’t think she ever took a vacation.

Did Empresses get vacations? It sounded like a full-time job. Her time was full of it!

Vacation.

Vacation.

The word rung through his head with an echo that suggested that if Flowey had been the one to say it, it might plant a horrible thought in his mind. Flowey could be a difficult friend to have, but that was alright! It was difficult for Flowey to be friends.

They had to work on being friends together!

He walked through the echo flowers, with their creepy whispering, and caught the ghost of a deathly screetch. It (would have, if he had any) made Papyrus’ hairs stand on end. He gulped, and came to a stop.

“What’re you doing out here?”

“Flowey!” Papyrus jumped. “I. EEP!”

Flowey laughed. “Careful!”

“You did that on purpose,” Papyrus huffed, and crossed his arms. He shook his head dramatically. “You’re just shocking.”

“Aw, but I can’t help but shoot out of the ground,” Flowey answered.

“Shocking,” Papyrus reiterated. “Have you seen Undyne anywhere? Alphys and I are looking for her.”

Flowey uprooted himself and wheedled his roots into Papyrus’ bootlaces. “I haven’t seen her at all. Promise!”

It was nice to have a friend that was honest with him. Sans… tried. Did he? Papyrus would like to think he tried but mostly it seemed like Sans lied a lot. Flowey though, sometimes he talked around questions and he never told Papyrus everything, but everything he said was the truth!

… well, the truth as he saw it, anyway.

Together, they walked through the eerie echoflowers with their little deathcries. They spoke loudly to drown out the noise. They got louder the closer they walked to Undyne’s house… and Papyrus tried to ignore that.

He tried really, really hard.

“Shut up!” Flowey hissed to one of the echoflowers.

“Shut up, shut up!” it taunted.

Undyne’s door was blown open, the door left on its side in the mud and pebbles. The area around it was scoured with familiar signs of battle. It looked like he and Undyne had had a sparring match, and they’d both fought really, really hard!

The echoflowers were screaming. Flowey’s roots tightened around his ankle; he felt them through the fabric of his boot.

Papyrus went around the back. There, he spotted his brother, squatting in the dirt and piling dust into a jar. He didn’t notice Papyrus’ approach. He didn’t notice as Papyrus walked up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.

Sans spun around. His left eye lit up with magic and his left arm shot out in an attack that didn’t take form. His eyes blackened out, and he vanished with a pop.

Papyrus looked down at the jar of dust he’d left behind, and realised he was shaking.

Sans had--

Sans couldn’t--

Papyrus pressed his hands to his eyes. Flowey murmured inquiringly at him. 

Words tumbled into his mind and out of his mouth, as feeling he had never, in any lifetime, rose in him. His mind crowded with ideas he didn’t want to think and facts he couldn’t help but know. And the knowledge could leave him at any moment.

“I could… reset?” Flowey suggested. “If… if you don’t want--”

“I… I hate him!” Papyrus interrupted. “And I hate Mettaton too! And don’t you ever let me forget it!”

Flowey flattened himself onto the ground. “Are you… sure?”

Papyrus wasn’t sure! There were too many hectic thoughts in his head for him to be sure of anything, and there was a soul-crushing black hole feeling of… disappointment. He was so, so, so disappointed in his brother.

How could he have done that. How could the King have asked him to?

Flowey collected up the dust. “C’mon, let’s take this to Alphys.”

A trio of guards in sparkly regalia met them as they left the royal scientist’s labs.

\- - - - - - - - - FLOWEY

Of all the flat, two-dimensional characters the Underground had to offer, Mettaton was the flattest of the lot. He was an infection, his facade of pink, sparkly inspidness oozing into every single member of the underground, turning them into vapid automatons.

“Look what I bought!” Papyrus said, and squatted down to Flowey’s level. He opened his fist to reveal a Mettaton figurine.

“He’s so cool!”

Flowey snorted. “Right. Remember that time he became king of the underground and ordered your brother to kill Undyne?”

Papyrus stilled. The vapid character trembled as his backstory was rewritten into something engaging, and Flowey waited eagerly as he began to truly move under its own power and join him past the fourth wall.

Papyrus’ head shook side-to-side, slowly.

Like something was blocking his true past.

“I’m sure… I’m sure he must have had a reason… he’s so cool...”


	4. The Father of the Absolute God of Hyperdeath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asgore and the second battle with the human.

*

The flowers are blooming in the patches of sunlight that the barrier scatters over the throneroom floor. They always bloom under Asgore’s influence. They soak up his magic eagerly. He remembers two children that once did the same, before--

Before Chara’s hatred had overcome them, and they’d fallen to the fate that all humans fell to. Perhaps there was something he should have done, but when Chara had seen him on his deathbed the slumbering speck of humanity that no monster’s influence could erase woke.

He can almost hear the echo of Asriel’s laughter.

He can almost hear the echo of Asriel’s screams.

It’s a fact he’s long acknowledged: some part of Asriel recognised the humanity that had awoken inside Chara and had conspired to kill them. Asriel was braver than he is. Asgore, so much older and wiser and more experienced, has hesitated again and again before destroying the children his son was able to destroy.

This must be true.

He closes his eyes. He can hear Asriel’s voice, asking him to join him—and how can he possibly say no?

 

He’s.

He can hear Asriel.

He _is_ Asriel.

His son has become the God that Asgore could not be.

They are going to kill the human.

They will kill the human.

They--

 

But Asriel didn’t _hate_ Chara. Asgore feels Asriel’s soul reach out to the human as he searches for the humanity there and seeks something – good?

Are they sparing the human – or is the human sparing them?

He can’t tell, he can only feel his conceptions shatter around him. There is a human in front of him who is fighting back against its humanity and is doing something good, and he-- he wants to join this human on the surface, he realizes.

He wants a _life_ on the surface, not a war.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [tumblr link](http://rabbitpietale.tumblr.com/post/160141333421/asgore-dreemurr-father-of-the-absolute-god-of)


End file.
